Netflix is making a CG-animated ‘Ultraman’ feature film

Ultraman fans will have another thing to look forward to on Netflix in addition to the second season of the ongoing animated series. The streaming giant is developing a CG-animated feature film for the franchise still in partnership with Ultraman creator Tsuburaya Productions. While the series continues the storyline of the live action show from the ’60s and focuses on the son of the original Ultraman, the movie will have a new story altogether. 

The film will tell the story of baseball superstar Ken Sato who returns to Japan to assume the mantle of the Earth-defending superhero. To complicate the situation, he’s also forced to raise a newborn Kaiju and become its father. The film will serve as the feature directorial debut for Shannon Tindle (Coraline), who also serves as its writer with Marc Haimes. Meawhile, American visual effects company Industrial Light and Magic will work on the animation. 

The film doesn’t have a release date yet, and all we have at this point is a concept art you can see above. According to Variety, though, it’s part of Netflix’s efforts to make Ultraman a crossover phenomenon and a household name around the world like Pokémon. 

Takayuki Tsukagoshi, CEO of Tsuburaya Productions, said:

“Ultraman was born in Japan 55 years ago. This partnership with Netflix will be the first full-scale endeavor to reach the global market for Tsuburaya Productions. Ultraman, since it was created, has charmed many people around the world. And Shannon Tindle is one of those people. He was greatly influenced by Ultraman as a child, and he grew up to become a creator himself. I am delighted that families around the world will be able to watch Shannon and his team’s vision for Ultraman on Netflix and foster feelings of courage, hope and kindness.”